Card index



April ze, 1927.

D. c. DANN-Ls CARD INDEX Filed oct. 2, 192s Ewig/7T C. Ddne'ls Patented Apr. 26, 1927.

UNITED STATES DW'IG-HT C. DANIELS, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

CARD INDEX.

Application filed October 2, 1923.

My invention relates to card index ling systems and more particularly to an improvement in the construction of a card index in which a removable cardis mounted in a pocket on a carrier which forms a permanent part of the file.

One popular form of card index comprises card carrier, which is provided with a pocket adjacent its lower edge, for carrying a card record. This pocket is preferably formed of transparent material fastened at its ends to the carrier so that the portion of the card inserted within the pocket may be readily observed. The carrier is ordinarily so mounted on a support that it may be easily moved or taken therefrom, and it is so arranged that the transparent pocket is visible, so that each removable record card, which is suitably indexed at its lower end, may be readily located and consulted without disturbing other cards in the file.

This type of card index system is of general use for keeping permanent and temporary records, such for example as may be required in a manufacturing plant Tn order to keep track of each order as it is being filled, it is often desirable Vthat a temporary record be made, which is indexed under the order number and the date when the order is wanted, and this record is consulted to determine what operations lhave been performed and what is to be done as well as to locate the work Aas it progresses through the various parts of the manu-k facturing plant. This record may be thrown away when the particular job has been finished. In addition to having such a temporary record, it is also necessary that the plants management know at any time what operations are required to satisfy a particular order, and be able to determine costs, etc. To this end, a permanent record is also kept, which details the names of the yoperations and the particular departments in which such operations are carried out, or other suitable data.

When an order is received, a card must be made to give these permanent and'temporary records. Then as each operation is started and completed, suitable notations are made on the card to indicate the progress of the order. When the lentire order has been filled.y the temporary record of the travel ofthe order through the plant is of no furtherv use, but the list of operations,

Serial No. 666,076.

etc., must be kept. It has heretofore been customary to destroy the old temporary record, which included the permanent record as well, and to make a new card giving the permanent record, together with such notations as are considered useful for future reference when similar types of work are to be carried out. This procedure of making a duplicate card is expensive and involves a considerable amount of unnecessary labor, as well as confusion'and delay in the office work.

lt is accordingly an object of my invention to avoid such difficulties and to improve the card index systems of this type so that both permanent and temporary records maybe kept without necessitating undue labor and expense, and particularly to provide a card index constructionfwhich permits both records to be made without duplication and the temporary record to be separated from the other and removed from the file at will.

With this and other objects in View as will be apparent to one skilled in the artl from the following disclosure my invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate one embodiment of my invention:

Fig. l is a plan view of the card carrier;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the carrier shown in Fig. l;

'F ig. 3 is a plan view of the carrier shown in Fig. l on which are mounted my permanent and temporary record cards, the support for the carrier being shown broken away;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a blank temporary record card with signal No. l showing; and

Fig. 5 is a smiliar view with signal No. Q. showing.

While various forms of carrier may be employed within the scope of my invention, T have illustrated in th'e drawings one form which comprises a thin cardboard 10 provided with a pocket at its lower edge. This pocket may be formed by means of a strip 11 of Celluloid bent in a U-shape around the lower edge of the card, and suitably secured thereto,v as by paper fasteners l, which are well known in the art.

A record card 1li (Fig. 3) is adapted to be mounted in the pocket formed by the celluloid'strip 11, and the upper corners of the 'ard may be secured to the carrier by suitable means, such as diagonally arranged slits 15 cut in the cardboard 10 and into which the corners olf the card may be inserted.

rl`he carrier l() is illustrated as provided with a thick supporting strip 16 hinged to the upper end ot the fard l0 by means of suitable adhesive cloth 1T, whereby the card may be removably mounted with other cards in an appropriate holder, although the card may be secured thereto in any suitable manner. The strip 1G shown in the drawings is intended to be suit-ably mounted on a support 18 and held in place by two parallel spaced flanged strips 19 'fastened tothe support. rThe construction of such support however does not lorm a part of my invention and may be ol any well-known or desired arrangement and design.

In accordance with my invention, I provide two rec-ord cards and mount them together on the carrier so that the desired double record may be kept. One card is adapted to be left permanently in the ile and this card 14 is properly mounted on the carrier as above described.v In order to associate a second record card therewith without changing the construction of the carrier, I so construct and shape this second card that it may be inserted in the carrier pocket and removably fastened to the tirst card. I also prefer to provide the second card with two sets of signals which will be visible through the pocket wall and serve tol advise anyone consulting the file as to the status of the record.

In order to hold a temporary record card on the Carrier with its data aligned with correlated markings or indicia on the permanent record card, I may provide the construction illustrated.. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the temporary card 2O is made of such size that it will lit into thev pocket at its lower end and be removably and slidably fastened at its upper end to the card lt by means of aflap 21 which is bent downwardly against the rear face of card 2O and is adapted to hook over the upper edge of card 14. One corner 'of card 20 may also be secured within a slit 15 in the carrier to prevent accidental removal of `the; upper card.

Thus it is merely necessary when one lwishes to add the ltemporary card to the file to insert the flap 21 behind the card 14 while located on its carrierl 10. The lower edge of the card 2O is-then thrust-Within the pocket. The .outer card 20 may be slid along the supporting card 1,4: to insert -i-ts cornerinto oneo slits 15 or to position any data thereon relative to the markings on card 14:A asmay be desired. l 5

In order to proqz'idegsuitablesignalsl pro;-

rjtle .the leser end voi the temporary 'recerticard with a flap 22 which is adapted to be bent in either direction toward the front or the rear so as to provide two signa-ls. The rear 23 ot the flap, which is adapted to be bent toward the front, is provided; with suitable markings and is preferably colored distinctively, such as by means of black lettering on a red surface, which serves to catch the eye as one looks down the visible index. il/'hen the requirement called for by this particular signal has been sat-islied the tlap may be bent rearwardly or torn away thus bringing to View a suitable index marking lornied in the space 24; which was 'formerly concealed by the 'lap. This marking may be in a different color, such as black letters on a white background, for the purpose of easy identification of the respective signals.

As shown in Fig. 3 the permanent record card 14 may be provided withsuitable markings, such as a list ot operations to be carried out, in the different departments ot a machine shop, and the temporary record card 20, which is shorter than the card 14, is provided with spaces for data which are aligned with corresponding spaces o-n card 14j. rIhe data on card 2O may be the dates ot' performing the operations listed on the main card and thus show at a glance where the piece of work is located and what has been done to it. Vhen the conditions called for by the card 20. have been satisfied this card may be removed from the file thus leaving the lower card 14 fully exposed. It and when desired, a further temporary record card may be again supported on the other card in the same manner.

It will therefore be seen that'by this invention I have provided a simple and Serviceable arrangement in a card index which permits one to correlate one or more temporary reco-rd cards with a record card adapted to be leit permanently in the file and that the cards intended for temporary use may be changed, removed and replaced without alice-ting the use of the data which should be always available. Moreover I have so constructed the card index that the cards cannot become accidentally separated and the temporary record thereby lost or' rendered useless It is also understood that the card carriers are arranged in parallel relation and in Contacty with one anotlier,.so that adjacent carriers help 4torhold the cards .thereon in place.

Having*,thusrlescribed my invention, what I .claim as new and desire to secure'byLetters Patent is l. A card indexv comprising a carrier provided with' a- -transparent strip forming therewith anfopenisidedwpocket, a. record card 1narginfally supported in Said pocket and yremovably 'heldbir the carrier, and' a smaller.l card simil-arly supported in the pocket and overlapping the record card externally of the pocket, said cards being Inovable relative to each other and correlated so that indicia on one may be used with data en the other.

Q. card index comprising a carrier provided with a pocket, a record card insertable into said pocket and a temporary card likewise insertable into said pocket which has a iolded A[lap arranged to slidably hook over an edge ot the record card and hold the two cards aligned with their indicia in proper relationship.

3. A card index comprising a card carrier having a narrow pocket adjacent one edge, a record card insertable into said pocket, and a second card having a flap arranged to be inserted between an edge portion of the record card and the carrier to hold the two cards together, and a signal 'Hap at another edge insertable into said pocket.

el. A card index comprising a card carrier having slits to hold the upper corners ot a card and a narrow transparent strip fastened adjacent to one edge to form a pocket, a record card insertable into said slits and pocket, and a second card having a downwardly bent flap arranged to be inserted between an edge portion of the record card and the carrier to hold the two cards together, and a signal forming edge portion insertable into said pocket.

A card index comprising a carrier havin slits to hold the upper corners of a card, a transparent strip secured adjacent to the lower edge of the carrier and forming a pozflet therewith, a record card inserta-ble into said pocket and slits and arranged to be secured to the carrier thereby, and a second narrower' card insertableinto said pocket which has flaps at its upper and lower ends, the upper flap being arranged to hook over the upper edge of the record card and the lower flaps having indicia on one face and being' bendable outwardly to show such indicia or inwardly to conceal them.

Signed at lVorcester, Massachusetts, this 26th day of Sept., 1923.

DWIGHT C. DANIELS. 

